MAC x Toledo’s New Makeup Collection Is Where Art Meets Fashion

Call me a dreamer, but I truly believe that great makeup both isa form of art and should make the wearer feel like a work of art. The latest line of fashion-inspired makeup and packaging from MAC is the result of a high-style partnership with fashion and art designers Isabel and Ruben Toledo and it mixes both fun and fabulous aspects of beauty.

I know that luxury makeup shouldn’t be all about the packaging, but the pieces in this line – like the products of many other MAC collabs – are 10000% enhanced by their graphic, colorful, and artistic tubes. Neon green eyeliner housed in a geometrical black and white printed pencil? Need. Navy blue mascara that you apply with a funky, twisted brush? Everything.

The casing feels like it belongs in an art museum, but most of the products themselves somehow feel like fun, airy, and unintimidating shades to try out for the spring. (For the adventurous and bold makeup junkies among us, this collection offers a great opportunity to try out a lemon-lime shade of mascara and 1970s-inspired eyeshadow hues. But for everyone else, there are universally-flattering shades of red and mauve lipstick galore and gentle ombre blushes that are perfect for creating that early-spring flush.)

The line’s offerings manage to feel sophisticated, lofty and glamorous – like the kind of makeup ritzy socialites would wear – but also down-to-earth enough for everyone else to feel like they can pick up a piece to add to their makeup drawer. The contradiction baffled me until I realized that the products don’t make you feel excluded from a high-end art culture: they just make you feel happy.